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Friday, June 06, 2003

By Karen Hoffmann, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Dr. T.J. Ferguson fit a Norman Rockwell image of the family doctor.

He was the kind of physician who made house calls on weekends and holidays and in the middle of the night, always carrying his black medical bag. For 50 years, he practiced his craft in a string of communities, treating multiple generations of families in Oakmont, Verona and Penn Hills.

Dr. Ferguson died at Presbyterian SeniorCare in Oakmont on Tuesday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 80.

He studied under the prestigious rheumatologist Dr. Harry Margolis, who offered him a job in Pittsburgh. Dr. Ferguson decided he'd rather establish his own practice, said Dr. Joseph Fusia of Oakmont, who worked with him for 43 years.

"It was the days of family doctors who came to the house and then called you when they got home to check up on you," said Betty Carlin, former director of the Oakmont Carnegie Library. "We were mighty lucky."

Dr. Ferguson lived in Oakmont his entire life. The youngest of six children, "he was always a very good student, a hard-working student," said Chester Johnston, his friend since first grade.

"We were both soda jerks in high school at the same time," said Johnston. "He worked in Stone's Pharmacy and I worked in Spann's Pharmacy. They were the two where people hung out."

Dr. Ferguson put himself through Wooster College in Ohio and then the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland by working part-time.

After serving in World War II for eight months, he married his high school sweetheart, Doris Stoner. "It was never just 'Ted Ferguson,' it was always 'Ted and Dory,'" said Fusia.

After opening a medical practice in Verona in the early 1950s, Dr. Ferguson again served in the military, this time in the Korean War. For five months, he treated the wounded at an aid station in Japan, after which patients were transported to Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units like the one made famous by the movie and TV series.

In addition to running his practice, Dr. Ferguson served as medical director of Oakmont Nursing Home, as physician for the Penn Hills School District and on the staff of Presbyterian SeniorCare. "Patients loved him," said Fusia. "He had the best rapport with patients of anyone I've ever known."

He never missed an opportunity to teach. "He was a natural-born teacher," said his daughter, Patricia Woltjen of Oakmont.

Dr. Ferguson had a good sense of humor. "He used to tell the corniest jokes I've ever heard," said Betty Johnston, Chester's wife. "He picked those up in the doctor's office," added Chester.

Dr. Ferguson enjoyed golfing. He played at Oakmont Country Club for 35 years, as well as on a trip to Scotland. "He had always wanted to play the old Scottish courses," said Woltjen. "That was a lifelong dream for him, and he realized that."

Dr. Ferguson was active in such organizations as the Kiwanis Club of Verona-Rosedale, the Oakmont Carnegie Library, Oakmont United Presbyterian Church and the Masonic Order. "He was always a leader," said Fusia. "If there was a crowd, he was the center of attention."

Besides his wife and daughter Patricia, he is survived by another daughter, Sherry Ehrlich of Oakmont, and six grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. today at Oakmont United Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Oakmont Carnegie Library.